Rokita's remark was not offensive

In his Aug. 23 letter, "Congressman's joke wasn't funny," Brian Price expressed his outrage that Rep. Todd Rokita responded to a public forum question about why more was not being done to investigate the IRS with the obviously lighthearted quip, "What do you want, a lynching?" Price's outrage was predicated upon the fact that the forum was held (and, thus, this "sad, hollow, callous" response given) during the same month as the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.

Without doing a deep dive into the etymology of the verb "lynch," the reasonably curious can determine that the term was not only likely derived from a Revolutionary War-era setting that had nothing to do with race, but also its general usage since then has not necessarily imported racial overtone.

The larger point, however, is that Price's outrage is symptomatic of a widespread, seemingly mushrooming, hypersensitive political correctness that is offended by the slightest, often innocent, even lighthearted stray remark or gesture and, indeed, seems to be actively searching for any excuse to be grievously insulted. What has happened to reasonable senses of perspective, proportion and restraint?

Fritz King

Indianapolis

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Rokita's remark was not offensive

In his Aug. 23 letter, 'Congressman's joke wasn't funny,' Brian Price expressed his outrage that Rep. Todd Rokita responded to a public forum question about why more was not being done to investigate